Early critics of Carver's work argue that his minimalist style and simple sentence structures are signs of an incompetent writer.  ... They started to listen but were interrupted before the narrator can hear anything about himself. ... Robert asks him to try to describe a cathedral for him, because he can't imagine one. ... Robert puts his hand on the narrator's hand, the one holding the pen, and tells him to start drawing. The narrator gets into it, and starts drawing the cathedral with Robert's hand on his. ...

• Word Count: 3978
• Approx Pages: 16
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The wife has earlier tried to commit suicide because of loneliness. ... With his writing flourishing and his personal life with Gallagher happy, Carver brought his drinking under control. ... I'll follow along with you. ... The narrator is jealous of his wife's friendship with the blind man. ... He seems to be uncomfortable with the notion of blindness, with his wife's connection to the man, and with his own inability to relate to other human beings. ...

• Word Count: 11148
• Approx Pages: 45
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School